One of the best parts of the Star Trek reboot was Leonard Nimoy, who bridged the gap between the original series and the new movies. And cameos from various cast members have been a long tradition in the Star Trek universe, with DeForrest Kelly turning up to ask Data about his ears in the pilot of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Kirk meeting Picard in Star Trek: Generations. And William Shatner isn’t ruling out appearing in Star Trek: Discovery, although he has a few requirements.
Needless to say, nobody actually connected with Discovery has said anything about Kirk showing up, but Shatner, asked about it, said that he’d be glad to do it, as long as he was, in his words, “useful.” He wasn’t a fan of Nimoy’s cameos, either:
I said to him, ‘You know you’re old when you go back in time and you’re still old.’ It was a cameo, and I thought, ‘That’s a waste of time. He’s so talented. Why didn’t they do something more with him?’ So that’s the way I feel about that.
As for Kirk showing up, the timeline would make sense, even leaving aside Star Trek’s love of spacetime anomalies which fling the cast into a different era. Discovery takes place between the original series and The Next Generation, and Shatner, now in his ’80s, could credibly play a Kirk who’s finally taken that admiralty position.
Of course, that assumes they’ve got a “useful” role for him. We’ll find out soon enough, as Star Trek: Discovery is launching in January with the pilot on CBS and the rest of the series streaming on CBS All Access.
(Via TV Guide)
